Hood Scoops

 Thanks to Al Richmond for the photo of the August meeting in San Leon.  Look at the pretty Birds.

In this month's issue:

• President's Message
• August Meeting
• September Meeting
• Mo
• Drive In Movie
• Swap Meets
• Birthdays & Anniversaries
• Officers
• Tail Lights
• Classifieds

A Message from the President

The August Meeting was held at Topwater Grill located in San Leon.  Seventeen members enjoyed the food, view, and camaraderie. The 50/50 drawing was won by Lynn Volkmann.  Your President was absent from the meeting - boating and enjoying the cool weather in the Gulf Islands, BC, Canada.

The CTOH Poker run is scheduled for Saturday, October 1.  We need more volunteers for obtaining the prizes and manning the stops.  The event will start at Skeeter’s on Weslayan and Bissonnet and cover a track of less than 100 miles.  Please plan on attending and provide Marc Markel your comments.

There will be an All T-Bird Picnic at the Mercer Arboretum, October 23 (rain date November 9).  Also, VTCI has invited CTOH on a one night trip to Palestine and Rusk.  Plans are to ride the old railroad. 

Dave Barnes plans to have the CTOH gift items at the September meeting.  Bring some cash to pick up some interesting TBird items, ok?

Hope to see you at the September monthly CTOH Meeting.

Diesel Bill McBride

August Meeting

The August meeting was held on Sunday, August 21, 2005, at the Topwater Grill in San Leon.  Minutes from the meeting follow:

The meeting was conducted by Vice President, Stephen Rubin.  President, Diesel Bill McBride was sailing.  Minutes of the previous meeting were approved without corrections.  Members agreed that publication of the minutes in the Hood Scoop Newsletter allows the meeting to move forward quickly.

Wyndham Smith, Treasurer, reported that bank statement remains the same.  Wyndham will buy a roll of stamps for mailings. 

OLD BUSINESS

The Moulton Parade report was in the last Hood Scoop.  Marc Markel will lead the next Poker Run.

NEW BUSINESS

Al Richmond talked about the Big Bird tour of the Galveston Air Museum.  The group was given a private tour of the facilities and explanation of the aircraft.  There will be an All T-Bird Picnic at the Mercer Arboretum, October 23 (rain date November 9).  Al also talked about a one night trip to Palestine and Rusk.  Plans are to ride the old railroad.  Finally, he mentioned the Houston AutoRama at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Thanksgiving Weekend.  He is looking for additional T-Birds for display.

The 50-50 was won by Lynn Volkmann.

GOOD AND WELFARE

Steve Rubin mentioned that Jack Barnes is retiring.  Again.  (He says this time for good).  He will liquidate all of his parts, tools, and cars, hopefully by the first of next year.  So if you need parts, drop by Jack’s shop at 5125 Gulfton, or call 713-664-3643, and make him an offer.

Food was reported very good, and meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Al Eisenberg, Recording Secretary

September Meeting

The September meeting will be held this Sunday, September 18, at the Hickory Hollow Restaurant, at 101 Heights Blvd, 1 block north of Washington.  If you get lost, call them at 713-869-6300.  This is a fun place, with great food at reasonable prices.  As usual, the eating begins at 1:00pm, and the meeting begins around 2:00pm.

SEMA Crushes Vehicle Scrappage Program

Federal Highway Bill Excludes Funds to Flatten Cars

Enthusiasts can now breathe a little easier.  It looks as though the federal government isn’t going to buy and scrap old vehicles—for now. SEMA, working with the SAN, has once again prevented the use of federal monies to fund motor vehicle scrappage programs. The latest victory came as Congress completed work on legislation to fund highway construction and public transportation through 2009. President Bush signed the $286.5 billion bill into law on August 10.
   
Every few years, Congress must reauthorize the highway laws. That process allows lawmakers to reconsider how monies are spent on highways and mass transit. However, it also provides an opportunity to lift the ban against spending federal taxpayer dollars on scrappage programs.
   
When the legislation was first introduced two years ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed funding state and local scrappage programs.

SEMA is the Specialty Equipment Market Association, and is a car-industry watch-dog group.

Drive In Movie

Drake Hiller sends in the following report: 

This might be something the Club would want to do.  A new drive -in theatre is being built out on 2920 about 3 miles west of Tomball towards Waller.  See the info at www.theshowboatdrivein.com.  We might want to watch this website to see when it opens and show up for the grand opening.  It might be fun to do and the mosquitoes probably will be gone by then.

Swap Meets

The following list of swap meets was provided by Rog Mellum.

Please call the contact number to check on correct dates and times before you drive half way across Texas to find that special part.  You can also check out www.hemmings.com and www.swapmeettimes.com for more info.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Officers, Board Members, Committee Chairs

Click on blue link for e-mail address.

Tail Lights

I went to the store the other day. I was only in there for about 5 minutes.

When I came out there was a city cop writing out a parking ticket. I went up to him and said, "Come on, buddy, how about giving a guy a break?"

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a name.

He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires.

So I called him a worse name. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket.

This went on for about 20 minutes. The more I verbally abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

I didn't care. My car was parked around the corner and this one had a "Hillary in '08" bumper sticker on it.